Living With Our Pets

 

Kit-Kat
©Vicki Perry 2022

Wow. After Terry's Silence poem, I'm not quite sure if I can keep up! If you haven't read it, you can find it here. 

I wanted to share our pets with everyone, since they are a big part of our lives. The kitty to the left is Kit-Kat. He is a gorgeous Birman cat Terry adopted from a shelter a while ago. 

Don't let Kit's piercing blue eyes and heart-melting good looks have you thinking that he is an absolutely perfect pet. While we both adore and love him, he is our "terrorist" as we call him. The cat will run around the house at night, leaving a messy wake of strewn papers, shredded boxes, and a broken hearted "sister" behind him. He has climbed onto shelves, snagging my glasses, the cords for both the computer and the laptop, and drug them both onto the ground. 

Birman cats are known as the "Sacred cat of Burma." The Birman name comes from Birmanie, a French form of the word, Burma. The breed is a long-haired, color pointed cat with a silky coat and white paws. Birmans originated in Myanmar (Burma), France. Birman kitties are also known to be gentle, especially in a household with other pets, including dogs. My dog, Peanut, rushes toward him when he feels Kit has come too close to his mom or dad, or his food. Kit simply stands there and watches every move. 

Kit is a wonderful kitty. Terry and I love him dearly, however he is our adventurer, shredder, and trouble maker. He is Terry's big boy though and will forever be in our hearts. 

Beautiful Bella, sitting on "dad's" lap

This gorgeous girl is Bella. Bella is Terry's little girl, and wow, is she ever a sweetheart! Whenever she can she will jump onto a lap and snuggle right down into the edge of the couch or chair. Bella is more timid than Kit however. When he gets feisty, he will often times chase her away. He is always scolded for this though, because we do love Bella's sweet personality and love to spend time with her. 

Terry adopted Bella from the shelter too, and boy is she worth having! Bella will come out at night, wait for Terry to get into his chair, and typically wait until she is invited up. Once the invitation is offered, she jumps up on his lap, curls up, and makes herself a little bed to snuggle down and keep warm. To me, she is the perfect cat!

Jasper or Peanut in the Miata, taking a ride. He loves riding with the top down.

This little man is Peanut, or Jasper. He came into my life nine years ago. He is now 11. Jasper was in a home where a nine year old boy abused him. The woman seemed to not show any remorse or shame that he was being beaten on by her son. Instead of teaching her son how to be with animals, she gave her dog away. Her dog that she had since he was two years of age. But, her loss. My gain. 

Jasper has been both a pain my derriere, and a blessing to have in my life. He can get a big aggressive when someone comes into the territory of "his people" or around his food. Jasper was very food aggressive when I got him, but my daughter, Brandy and I worked on getting him to change that habit. 

Overall, he tries to be a good boy. He's older now and has lost some teeth, is losing his hearing and a bit of his eyesight due to cataracts. That seems to be the way with most chihuahuas. Peanut is of the chihuahua breed, but the doe and apple head combo. He thinks he rules the home, but truth be told, the cats are triple his size and could take him down with a swat. But we let him think he is badass. It seems to work. 

Our pets top off the family feel we have at the home. Without them, life would be pretty simple and boring, and who wants that? We will continue to chase Kit, pet pretty Bella, and tell Peanut "No," over his aggressive badass self for the rest of their lives, or ours. It's worth every single moment of aggravation. We love them all and are blessed to have met each of them.